De-bunking our ocular old wives’ tales

Have you ever been told that reading in the dark will damage your eyes, that eating carrots will improve night vision or that crossing your eyes could leave you permanently disfigured? Old wives’ tales relating to our eyesight have been passed down from generation to generation, but just how accurate are they?

Eye health specialist Bausch & Lomb has compiled some information to help debunk the most common of these myths:

All babies are born with blue eyes

FACT! Babies’ eyes change from blue to their natural colour by the age of three, by which time their eyes have produced and stored enough brown pigment to take on their natural shade – be that blue, green, grey, brown or hazel.

Brown eyes are dominant over blue eyes

FACT! Everyone has four genes for their eye colour; two from each parent. The dominant eye gene is brown with both blue and green recessive genes. When blue and green are the only genes present, they are co-dominant, so they take on blue, green or any mix in between.

Adults’ eyes can change colour over time

FICTION! The iris never actually changes colour in adults (except in the case of certain eye conditions such as pigment dispersion syndrome). Usually colour changes are just a trick of the light - the iris sometimes appears to change, dependent on the colour of clothing a person is wearing, or the quality of light.

Declining eye health only affects the elderly

FICTION! An eye test is a vital health check, and can detect eye conditions before you notice the effect they are having on your vision regardless of your age. Adults between 16-59 year olds should visit an optometrist for a full eye test every two years, and others should be tested annually, unless otherwise advised by an eye health professional.

Reading in dim light can damage your eyes.

FICTION! Reading in dim light can cause eye fatigue but will not actually hurt your eyes.

If you cross your eyes when the wind changes, they can get stuck there.

FICTION! There is no known link between the wind and your eyes.

The darker your sunglasses the better they are for your eyes

FICTION! If your sunglasses do not have UV protection and carry the CE mark, the dark lenses may actually damage your eyes by dilating your pupil and letting in more of the harmful UV rays. Go for brown or amber lenses, which reduce the amount of blue light allowed through.

You can’t take a vitamin to help protect your sight

FICTION! Supplements are useful for boosting eye health. Bausch & Lomb’s Ocuvite Lutein protects the macula and maintain good eye health and contains antioxidant vitamins and lutein, a carotenoid pigment found naturally in green leafy vegetables, as well as the retina of the eye. Ocuvite Lutein is available over the counter at most Boots stores, and pharmacies, priced at £7.49 (RRP) for 30 capsules (one month’s supply).

Vitamin and mineral supplements can also be effective in preserving eye health in those susceptible to age-related changes such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Bausch & Lomb’s PreserVision Soft Gels are high potency antioxidant supplements developed to help with eye health in those susceptible to age-related changes, and may be helpful in treating those diagnosed with AMD.

PreserVision Original and Lutein Soft Gels are available over the counter at most Boots stores, and pharmacies, priced at £14.95 (RRP) for 60 Soft Gels, each pack providing one month’s supply.

Eating carrots improves eyesight

FACT! There's some truth in this as carrots are a source of vitamin A, which is important for the eyes. But before embarking on an all-carrot diet, bear in mind that it's more important for eye health to have a balanced diet that supports your all-round health. Poor nutrition is implicated in diseases such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Not wearing your glasses will make you depend upon them less

FICTION! If you don't wear your glasses you may become more accustomed to the blur and won't remember how bad it is, and thereby think that your eyes have got better (when they haven't!).

Smoking can make you go blind

FACT! The UK’s 13 million smokers are doubling their chances of going blind as a result of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the UK’s leading cause of blindness according to recent research. Of the 500,000 people in the UK who have been diagnosed with the condition, an estimated 54,000 have AMD as a result of smoking. The message is simple – stop smoking, or better still, don’t start.

Watching TV too much will damage eyes

FACT and FICTION! Children will be delighted to know that this warning isn't strictly true, but parents can fall back on the fact that too much viewing can make your eyes tired or cause a headache. You're particularly vulnerable if TV is viewed in a darkened room, when you are effectively looking at a moving light, like a torch.

For further information about Bausch & Lomb’s PreserVision, Ocuvite Lutein and Hycosan, visit Bausch.co.uk.